Editing Katherine Swynford (section)

==Family==
[[File:CommunesBelgique-Le-Roeulx.svg|thumb|upright|Coat of arms of Le Roeulx family.]]
[[File:RoetArms.png|thumb|upright|Coat of arms of Paon de Roet and his daughter Katherine Swynford, bef. 1396.]]
Katherine's father was [[Paon de Roet]], a herald and, later, knight (who was "probably christened as Gilles"{{sfn|Weir|2007|pp=3–11}}), who came to England in the entourage of [[Philippa of Hainault|Philippa of Hainaut]], who married King [[Edward III of England|Edward III]]. Its origin is not documented. Payne's family nickname was Roe (French: ''Roët''). On this basis, it has been suggested that he was related to the powerful family of the Lords of Le Roeulx, who owned a lordship in the [[County of Hainaut]], whose name was spelled differently: ''Rouet'', ''Roëlt'', ''Ruet''. The origin of this genus has been traced back to [[Charlemagne]]. Their possessions were mainly concentrated around the city of [[Le Rœulx]], located 8 miles northeast of [[Mons, Belgium|Mons]]. They also included the towns of [[Roux, Belgium|Roux]] (located 40 miles east of Mons) and [[:fr:Faurœulx|Faurœulx]] (20 miles south). However, according to the historian [[Alison Weir]], there is reason to doubt this version of Paon's origin: the chronicler [[Jean Froissart]], who himself was from Hainaut, was most likely well aware of his origin, but does not write anything about his nobility. As Paon's father, he points to a certain Jean de Roët (died 1305), son of Huon de Roët. Froissart gives no titles for any of them. At the same time, Weir notes that this version cannot be completely discarded: Paon de Roet could indeed come from a younger line of the Le Roeulx family, since the spelling of the generic names Roeulx and Roët are quite similar and they could well be interchangeable. In addition, the name Gilles, which Paon received at baptism, was quite common in the family of the Lords of Le Roeulx.{{sfn|Weir|2007|pp=3–11}}

Additional evidence of the possible relationship of Paon de Roet with the Lords of Le Roeulx is the heraldic similarity of the coats of arms of Paon and the Le Roeulx family. The coat of arms of the city of Le Rœulx is a golden lion on a green field with a wheel in its paw, which is a play on words: in French, ''roue'' means wheel. The same theme was adopted by Paon's family: the coat of arms of his daughter, Katherine Swynford, was three gold wheels on a red field, however, judging by the heraldic emblems on the vestments given to her by Lincoln Cathedral, on her coat of arms until 1396, when she married John of Gaunt, there were three simple silver wheels; she probably inherited this coat of arms from her father.{{sfn|Weir|2007|pp=3–11}}

Based on the description of his [[epitaph]], Paon was [[King of Arms]] of [[Duchy of Aquitaine|Aquitaine]] for a time. In England, he was in the service of Queen Philippa. After the outbreak of the [[Hundred Years' War]] in 1340, he took part in the early stages of the English army, including fighting at the [[Battle of Crécy]] and the siege of [[Calais]]. Not later than 1349, Paon returned to Hainaut, where he served [[Margaret II, Countess of Hainaut]], sister of Queen Philippa.{{sfn|Weir|2007|pp=3–11}}

There is no reliable information regarding Katherine's mother. According to some reports, Paon de Roet was married twice. It has been suggested that one of his wives was a relative of Queen Philippa, but there is no documentary evidence for this version.{{efn|On some sites, Catherine of Avesnes, sister of [[William I, Count of Hainaut]], Queen Philippa's father, is listed as the mother of Katherine Swynford. However, this version has two problems. The first is due to the fact that the name Catherine is not found among the names of the known sisters of Count William I. The second problem is chronological: William I's father, [[John II, Count of Holland|John II, Count of Hainaut and Holland]], died in 1304, so Catherine of Avesnes, born before 1304, could not be the mother of Katherine Swynford, who was born around 1350. There is another version, according to which Katherine Swynford's mother was not a sister, but the daughter of Count William I and, thus, the sister of Queen Philippa. However, in such a case, Katherine Swynford would have been John of Gaunt's first cousin, so chroniclers would have to note this fact when describing their love affair. In addition, their marriage would require special papal permission, but John of Gaunt does not mention such an obstacle. In addition, among the daughters of Count William I, a daughter named Catherine is also not mentioned.{{sfn|Weir|2007|p=311}}}} Alison Weir believes that two children were born from Paon's first wife: the eldest daughter, Isabel (also called Elizabeth) —who later became in the Noble [[canoness]] of the very influential [[Saint Waltrude Collegiate Church]] in [[Mons, Belgium|Mons]] (which, according to Weir, is evidence of Paon's close connection with the ruling family of Hainaut)—, and a son, Walter. The mother of Katherine and another daughter, [[Philippa Roet|Philippa]]<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia| isbn = 978-0-19-811765-0| last = Gray| first = Douglas| title = Chaucer, Philippa - Oxford Reference| encyclopedia = The Oxford Companion to Chaucer| access-date = 2017-06-08| date = 2005| url = https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000unse_f0k0| url-access = registration}}</ref> (who married the famous English poet [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0-19-811765-0 |editor=Douglas Gray | last = Hudson| first = Anne| title = John of Gaunt - Oxford Reference| encyclopedia = The Oxford Companion to Chaucer| access-date = 2017-06-08| date = 2005| url = https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000unse_f0k0| url-access = registration}}</ref>), was, according to Weir, Paon's second wife.{{sfn|Weir|2007|pp=3–11}}{{sfn|Walker|2004a}}